Maravi

Eastern Province to reap $40m in tobacco sales

Eastern Province to reap $40m in tobacco sales
Written by Christopher Miti in Chipata

EASTERN Province is expected to realise US $40 million from tobacco sales this year, the Eastern Fodya Association of Zambia (EFAZ) has projected. And EFAZ has said the tobacco market would be opened next Monday and not this week as earlier planned.

EFAZ vice-chairperson Chishala Chilufya said the province was expected to produce 20 million kilogrammes of tobacco from this season’s production, saying the association would therefore ensure that tobacco companies did not exploit farmers.

"If the buying companies want to exploit farmers, they should know that the production of tobacco always fluctuates...if this year the farmers are affected in the pricing, you expect low production next year so even the buying companies they are taking this so cautiously because we don't want what happened in the 2006/2007 farming season to repeat itself," Chilufya said.

He also defended the eight per cent deductions from farmers’ sales.

"In Malawi, 18 percent is deducted from a farmer’s sales as a floor deduction, in Zambia we are deducting 8.02 per cent which is almost half of the deduction in Malawi. Now there is a standard that is set in the tobacco industry, all the tobacco should be sold at the auction floor here in Zambia. We don’t have auction floors, we have sales floors now at the sales floor, we need to employ people in management labour and all other things so who is going to pay that? Definitely the deduction that farmers are complaining about is not so high if you compare it with what is deducted in other SADC countries like Zimbabwe, Tanzania and others,” Chilufya said.

And Chilufya said tobacco marketing would start next Monday to give room for an assessment of prices in Malawi.

"We cannot start buying the crop until first we hear the prices in Kanengo, Malawi. The only difference between Kanengo prices and Zambian prices is the processing fees that buying companies pay in Malawi. For example, if the crop in Malawi is costing about US $270, then here it can be 250 dollars," said Chilufya.

Labels: CHISHALA CHILUFYA, EASTERN PROVINCE, EFAZ, TOBACCO

posted by MrK @ 4:39 AM